To foreign observers, the Irish housing crisis can be puzzling.  Reading Irish papers or Irish social media will tell anyone that things are bad in Ireland. But it’s hard to put one’s finger on exactly why things are so bad. The problem can be hard to identify in the numbers. For example, Irish house prices are high — but they’re not more unaffordable than most other countries in Europe. The crucible of the Irish housing crisis is the rental sector. That’s where things are at their worst. In 2016, 26.6 per cent of Irish households rented their home. This number…